


Fictional Explosions and Conflict Management

by chinuplilpup



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, the conflict is a barely-veiled plot device to get to chime group cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 07:12:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12316266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinuplilpup/pseuds/chinuplilpup
Summary: AuDy doesn’t know what happened between them, but Aria and Mako are not speaking.This is strange.





	Fictional Explosions and Conflict Management

AuDy doesn’t know what happened between them, but Aria and Mako are not speaking. 

This is strange. 

The Kingdom Come is no stranger to conflict between its crew members. This is not the first time Mako has shut himself in his closet and refused to come out for meals or meetings, and it likely will not be the last. But that _Aria_ is the one drifting through the halls with her jaw tight, responding in monosyllables— _that_ is a surprise. 

AuDy has a series of systems for restoring balance to the ship. They had walked up to Cass and said, “Apologize to him,” and that’s when Cass told them that it was Mako and Aria this time. 

That gave AuDy pause. They haven’t got a system for that. 

Cass fiddled nervously with the hem of their sweater and said, “I’m sure they’ll be back to normal tomorrow. You know how they are.”

AuDy went to the cockpit to process the new information. 

The next day, Mako and Aria are not back to normal. 

Mako is still in his closet. Another day and AuDy will have to bring out the big guns, which means standing outside Mako’s door and threatening to take away his guns if he doesn’t come out and eat an actual meal. 

Aria has custody of the halls, because she keeps walking from room to room at a just slightly slower pace than usual and with her headphones blasting music audibly. Another two days there and it will be time for drastic measures, which with Aria almost always means dancing.

Around when they might be eating dinner on a regular day, Cass and AuDy sit quietly on opposite sides of the couch in the common area. Cass has an Apostolisian book, and AuDy is scrolling through a newsfeed. 

“You could do something,” AuDy says. 

Cass doesn’t look up. “Do what?” 

“You have siblings,” AuDy says. Cass doesn’t give any sign that they heard. AuDy adds, “I am a parking robot.”

“Yeah,” Cass says. “I know what I’m doing, trust me.”

AuDy flicks over to the next page on their screen. 

Aria walks into the common area and sits in the middle of the couch. AuDy clicks the news screen off. 

“Sorry for like, being a pain,” Aria says. 

“No,” Cass says, “No need.” 

A stretched, painful silence. “If you want to talk. About it.” 

They gesture to themselves. Aria takes pity on them. “Thanks, Cass.” She looks at them both. “Is it cool if I watch something?” 

She puts it up on the big screen--she picks an anime that they all enjoy, because Aria is a sweetheart all the time. 

Half an hour into the episode, Mako sneaks into the kitchen area behind them. He’s wearing a shirt with a reflective orange insignia, so he has to know he’ll be noticed. Cass tenses up, and Aria starts to bite her nails. Mako cracks open the cabinet where they keep the chips.

This has to end now. AuDy leans over and pauses the episode. Mako freezes. 

“You seem sad,” they say.

Aria shrugs stiffly. 

“Mako, you seem sad, too.”

Neither Aria nor Mako is looking at AuDy, or each other. Cass, on the other hand, is staring straight at them, wide-eyed. 

“Did something sad happen in an anime?”

“No,” Aria says. 

“Oh. I see. Did something else happen?”

Cass makes frantic signals for AuDy to stop talking. AuDy tilts the part of their body that would be a head if they had one, the image of innocent confusion. 

“AuDy, no offense but I kind of feel like this whole ‘clueless’ thing is a bit,” Mako says.

AuDy turns the innocent pantomime towards Mako. Aria glances back at him. 

“Right?” she says. “I felt it too.” 

“ _This_ is a bit, but you two aren’t sad?” AuDy says. 

"It's nothing, AuDy," Aria says. "I'm fine, I'll be fine. Mako, you're fine, right?"

"Yeah. Fine," Mako says after just too long a pause to be convincing. 

AuDy is thinking through their next move when, miraculously, Cass speaks up. 

"You know, mostly when people say fine like that, they might not...mean it." 

Neither Mako or Aria says anything. Cass tugs hard at their braid and winces.

AuDy says, "Watching TV makes...you all feel better, doesn't it?"

"‘ _You all_ ’?" Mako asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Humans?” AuDy tries. “And Apostolisians." 

"Hm," says Cass.

The conversation is getting wildly off track. AuDy reroutes their thoughts back to the knowledge they solidified from previous conflict management. Getting Aria to feel better usually means giving her time and then coaxing her to reach out and talk about it. Mako needs a push to apologize or hear an apology or whatever he needs to put the situation to rest. "Sit down and watch, Mako. Just for a few minutes. And I won't lock anyone out of the bathroom tomorrow morning."

All three of them look stricken. Cass is a little green. AuDy feels bad, but they’re working towards the greater good here. 

Aria shrugs. 

“Whatever,” she says. “Sure.”

Mako drags his feet over to the couch and doesn’t sit down. He’s bouncing up and down on his toes without seeming to notice. 

"I'm sorry," he tells the wall above Aria's shoulder. 

Aria crosses her arms over her stomach. She tells the floor, "I shouldn't have pried."

"I shouldn't have said--" Mako scrunches up his face to think, "--any of the stuff I said. I didn't mean any of it."

"I figured." 

"I'm sorry anyway."

AuDy can't tell for sure, but they suspect Cass is holding their breath. 

“Ugh,” Aria says in an unfairly melodic tone of voice. “This is so dramatic.” She uncrosses her arms and picks at the hem of her pink sweater. She’s picking up bad habits from Cass. AuDy’s response to this realization is completely neutral.

“I'm sorry, too,” she says. 

Mako opens his mouth to respond and his stomach growls.

Cass, for the second time in less than ten minutes, saves them from the awkward silence. 

“There’s leftovers.” They jump up, nearly tripping over their feet as they rush away to the kitchen. 

Aria pats the couch next to her and nods to the paused television screen. “Have you seen this one?” 

Mako drops onto the cushion. He’s tense for one single second but Aria nudges his shoulder with hers, and then he hooks a knee over her leg and puts his head on her shoulder. “I think I’ve seen like fifteen minutes.”

Aria pulls both of his legs over her lap. His feet land on AuDy’s leg with a small clang. AuDy processes that. 

“It’s an interesting episode,” they say. “There have been explosions.”

Cass comes back with bowls of rice, meat, and vegetables. They blink at Mako and Aria, wrapped up in each other on the couch. 

“Don’t even,” Aria says, and pats the cushion again. Cass, who was shifting towards a chair in a cramped corner, gives a short, unconvincing sigh and sits behind Mako. They pile a few pillows into their lap for Mako to lean on, but he snuggles up mostly against Cass’s shoulder. 

Cass barely moves their own bowl out of the way in time to avoid getting Mako’s hair in it. “Your hair is getting long,” they say. 

“Maybe I’m growing it out.” Mako swallows a mouthful of rice. 

AuDy is looking over so they get a direct view of Aria’s face lighting up with excitement. “Three is enough for a braid train!”

“Oh my god,” Mako breathes, awed and delighted. 

Cass looks straight at AuDy. AuDy gives a slight nod of their head. Cass is the only person on board the ship who knows that AuDy knows how to braid hair. They return the nod solemnly. 

Aria, as usual, sees all. 

“What’s all that about?” She raises an eyebrow at AuDy, then turns to Cass. 

Mako wags his eyebrows at AuDy. 

“Uh…” says Cass.

“Cass.” AuDy can’t let them take this bullet. They wait until everyone is looking over at them. “I am enjoying this episode a lot. There have been explosions.”

“Me too,” says Cass, relieved. 

Aria looks suspicious—AuDy knows they can’t keep it from her forever, and that the Kingdom Come is hurtling towards the eventuality of braid trains—but for now she rewinds the episode a few minutes and hits play. 

Mako wriggles until he’s presumably more comfortable, and then wriggles some more. 

Something soft pokes at AuDy’s side. Cass is holding out one of the pillows that were in their lap. AuDy takes it. Cass leaves their arm slung around the back of the couch. They lean their cheek on Aria’s head and Aria leans back into their arm. She’s tapping her fingers on Mako’s orange-insignia-covered chest to some beat she has stuck in her head or a rhythm she’s picked up on from the fight scene on screen.

They settle on the couch like that and watch the rest of the episode and a second one. There are more fictional explosions. It’s good.


End file.
